It’s been five years since Andrew Wiggins made his NBA debut. Coming out of college, he was hailed as the next great NBA superstar (with comparisons to LeBron James) and there was a strong belief that he would become one of the NBA’s best players.
Today, with career averages of 19.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game on 44% shooting, Wiggins has shown flashes of stardom but is far from what most thought he would become.
These past few years, Wiggins has been scrutinized for having a poor work ethic, a poor shot selection, and being an abysmal defender. There’s much of his game that is flawed.
Still, not everyone has lost faith. On the airwaves of SiriusXM NBA Radio, former league big man Kevin Garnett went so far as to say Wiggins has the ability to be an MVP.
“He has the ability to be an MVP. He just never wants to push through. I don’t even know… me and Sam [Mithcell] root for Wiggs every year… great guy, great kid… if he called me I’m picking it up and Imma go as hard as I can for him, that’s my guy. But I wish that he would kick it in third gear and really show people the difference and his ability and not just waver like that.”
"He has a lot of untapped potential that the world hasn't even seen"@KevinGarnett5KG tells @TheFrankIsola & @SamMitchellNBA that Andrew Wiggins can still be a big time player pic.twitter.com/L8YK7SOlzT
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) April 10, 2020
Wiggins averaged over 23 points per game during his best season, but there has been a surprising lack of growth to his game since. Despite having a partnership with Karl-Anthony Towns (one of basketball’s best centers), he failed to get the Timberwolves to the postseason and, really, any place of consistency.
The Warriors are his chance to start fresh, make a good impression, and get a head start on improving his game for the season. We’ll see if he takes advantage of it.
